Misery
by Aijou829
Summary: It's what any healthy young red-blooded teen-aged male would dread. The school dance.


**This was inspired by Maroon 5's new song Misery. Every highschool has a dance or two right? Here's what I thought might happen at Karakura High should such an event take place.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or the aforementioned song by Maroon 5. **

Ichigo passed through the halls draped carefully with bright colored crepe paper. His scowl deepened as the music became louder while he walked. _Tsk, just being here makes me feel stupid._ Waving off the lei that the greeter tried to hand him at the door he took a deep breath and headed in.

Entering the gymnasium he paused to take in the flashing lights and decorations. Tinsel palm-trees were hung throughout the room and in one corner a line of couples waited to have pictures taken before a tacky sunset back drop. Ichigo immediately headed in the opposite direction opting to get some punch from the table of appetizers set up to his left.

He scanned the room for familiar faces. On the dance floor he dead panned at Keigo's pathetic attempt to get closer to Mizuro and the horde of girls dancing around him. He nodded to Tatsuki as she defend innocent bystanders from Orihime's exuberant dancing while effectively blocking Chizuru's attempts at grabbing the oblivious girl. Laughing slightly he caught sight of Sado and moved to stand next to him against the wall after picking up a drink.

"Yo Chad." Ichigo greeted with a raised hand.

Sado nodded in response.

Ichigo continues to observe the room while taking a sip from his cup. "Tsk, This is lame." He noted dully.

"Bummed that you could not acquire a date Kurosaki?"

Ichigo glanced to his side scowling. "Shut up Ishida. It's not like you have one either."

"Actually," Ishida hid his smirk while pushing up his glasses. "I do."

Ichigo's scowl deepened. _Smug Bastard. _"Let me guess. You asked her out while setting up these girly decoration's with the rest of the Pansy Crafts Club right?"

Ishida grimaced with chargrin. "It's Handy Crafts!"

"Huh, Whoops." Ichigo grinned.

"Ohiyo Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime waved enthusiastically while approaching the group. "Ishida-kun, Sado-kun!"

"Oi, Ichigo." Tatsuki came up to stand by Sado against the wall. Ichigo nodded.

"Are you enjoying the dance Inoue-san?" Ishida asked politely.

"Oh yes!" She replied enthusiastically flailing her arms in a wide arc. "I was worried that the little blue men would come and take the palm-trees and replace the punch with gasoline while we weren't looking and the switch the cookies and other treats with fake plastic ones like the things that children play with but everything seems to be going just fine! Don't you think so Kurosaki-kun?"

Ichigo nodded politely and opened his mouth to respond when an annoying voice reached his ears.

"Oi, Ichigo!" _Oh, Kami no. Aanything but her..._

Rukia marched determinedly forward followed closely by Renji, the two lieutenants overdressed and sorely outdated.

"Ohiyo Kuchki-san!" Orihime greeted with a wide smile.

"Inoue -san!" She smiled in return.

"What the hell are you two wearing?" Ichigo asked with a shocked expression.

"What else would we be wearing to a formal event?" Rukia shot back obviously offended.

Orihime began waving her hands frantically back and forth while glancing worriedly between the two. "A-Ano, Kurosaki-kun. Kuchki-san!"

"You look ridiculous! Are you two blind?" Ichigo shouted.

"Hey! I'll have you know that I have perfect 20/20 vision!" Retorted an aggravated Renji. "And what the hell are you implying is wrong with our clothes?"

Ichigo, Sado, Tstsuki, and even Ishida dead-panned. "Uhh, well..." Ichigo said while glancing up at Renji's baby-blue ruffled tux and Rukia's floor length gown with even more over sized ruffles. _The hell?_

"I think your outfit's are great!" Chimed Orihime. The rest of the group sweat dropped.

"Why thank you Orihime!" Rukia said weaving their arms together. "Come on, let's dance. We don't need to stick around with the rest of these wall flowers!" Turning on her heel Rukia pulled Orihime toward the floor and Renji fell in behind the pair.

"We'll go too." Tatsuki motioned for Sado's toward the dance floor.

"Hn." Sado followed obediently.

"Hey, what? You two came together too!" Ichigo burst out indignantly.

"Yeah." Spat Tatsuki. "Who goes to a dance alone."

"I'll be leaving too." Ishida commented upon his departure.

_Damn._ Now this was really lame. _It's lame enough that I even came to this stupid thing. Now I have to be here alone. Tsk, even Ishida has a fucking date._

After a few more songs Orihime came back over to talk with the sulking substitute shinigami.

"I thought you might be thirsty." She offered him a drink with a pleasant smile.

"Thanks." He said taking it and downing it quickly.

Orihime wrung her hands together while glancing steadfastly at her toes. Ichigo looked down too. _Sneakers?_

"Oi, Inoue." She lifted her head hopefully eyes wide and bright as she looked straight at him. "Why aren't you wearing girly shoes? It's a dance. Don't girls like to wear high heels and crap."

Orihime's head shot down so quickly he thought she might have hurt her self. He ducked down a little to see her expression. Even in the dim lighting and through the curtain of her thick red hair, he could see the red staining her cheeks.

"Ano.." She replied meekly. "I really like dancing, and it can really hurt your feet. "He noticed her toes rubbing together as she spoke. "Sneakers are much more comfortable and Plus Tatsuki always says that if I ever wore heels...well I'm such a klutz you know," She smiled up at him widely with her eyes scrunched closed while rubbing the back of her head. "I'd probably trip and hit my head." Opening her eyes with a worried expression she went off into a rant.

"Oh, and if I hit my head and went unconscious the the little blue me would come and take me away to their ship and force me to eat black berry ice-cream with out any read bean paste and then they would take all of my wasabi at home so that when they return me I can't put any on my dango!" Ichigo tried his best to keep the green from showing on his face. "Ha, I'm so lucky to have a good friend like Tatsuki with such foresight and compassion the she could help me prevent such things from occurring! Yosh!"

"Well that's stupid." Orihime's smile faltered and she dropped her head again. "Tatsuki can't tell you what you can and can't wear." Orihime looked up through her long lashes at him slightly hopeful again. "But it's very sensible that you decided to wear comfortable shoes."

She smiled so brightly at his comment that he couldn't help but raise his eyebrow in curiosity. "Arigato, Kurosaki-kun."

"Don't mention it." He shrugged his shoulders and looked back over the crowd.

Beside him, Orihime stood shuffling her feet and biting her lip. _My heart is beating so fast. And my hands are so sweaty... I don't have to tell him...I just need to ask...just one dance._

Fisting her hands at her sides and squaring her feet, she took a deep calming breath and looked up to him with determination. "Ano-" _Thud._ Her heart gave a firm beat as his eyes turned toward her and she dropped her head again. "...ano, Kurosaki-kun..." she continued with a much weaker resolve. She swallowed and trudged on. "Would you please..." _Come on! Tatsuki said to just say it._ "...dance... with me?" She looked up meekly preparing to be shot down.

Ichigo blinked slowly. _Dance? With Inoue._ He looked over the crowd of people. They seemed to be absorbed in the music. _Maybe no one would notice..._ A slight blush crept across his face. He turned and looked at her. "Sure."

Her eyes widened dramatically and she seemed like she might faint. "Come on." He said taking her hand. She followed him to the floor in a trace like state. A mad rush of red coated her features as she began to comprehend his hand holding hers. He turned abruptly to face her and the scratched his cheek while glancing to the side. "Umm. Like this right?" He placed his hands on her hips and she stared right at him for a moment before swinging her arms hastily up to his shoulders, trying to make up for skipping a beat.

They moved stiffly from left to right. Suddenly the jostling of the crowd pushed her forward. "Oh, Gomen!" She squeaked when she stepped on his toe.

"No, no. It's alright." He said blushing madly._ Damn. This is not manly at all. It's just a dance for Kami's sake! _

The crowd drew tighter and she was suddenly much closer that she was before. He swallowed thickly trying desperately to ignore the curves of the you woman in his arms. _Where the hell are all the damn chaperones when you need them. _Their movements became less stiff and they swayed gently to the song as it drifted over their heads.

She buried her head into his shoulder to hide her read completion. _Kurosaki-kun...he feels so...nice..._ Her heart picked up the pace into a steady gallop. _And he smells nice too..._

Ichigo looked down at her at the same time she looked up. At the distance he could see all of the colors reflecting in her eyes.

Orihime shifted nervously in his arms. Intimidated by their proximity. Trying to avoid his intense eyes, she glanced down. She caught sight of his lips instead. He followed suit and caught her licking her lips. The sight bothered him in ways he didn't mind being bothered. Slowly they both made eye contact again. With out a thought, he leaned down slowly. He eyes widened for a brief moment before closing altogether. She rose up onto her toes to shorten the distance when-

FLASH

"Wow! This will be perfect for the year book. You two are such a great couple!"

_Damn._ Ichigo and Orihime dropped their hands like they burned themselves.

"Hahahaha! Thanks for the dance Kurosaki-kun!" She plastered the biggest smile on her face and turned to walk away briskly.

Ichigo put out a hand toward her but thought better of it. He was just as embarrassed as she was. Instead he made up his mind to find that photographer and beat the hell out of him for ruining the moment...and potentially his reputation. _Tsk. I fucking hate dances._

**For the record, I have no idea how to actually spell any one's names or anything so if it's wrong don't get to surprised. This issue could be remedied if I had a beta. Speaking of which, I have a couple of new storied in the works. My most motivating one is a Bleached out retelling of Midsummer night's dream if anyone wants to help me out with it. Let me know if you're interested.**

**Aijou**


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